Our Tradition

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, a Japanese Zen priest belonging to the Soto lineage, came to San Francisco in 1959 at the age of fifty-four.

Already a respected Zen master in Japan, he was impressed by the seriousness and quality of “beginner’s mind” among Americans he met who were interested in Zen and decided to settle here.

As more and more people of non-Japanese background joined him in meditation, San Francisco Zen Centre came into being and he was its first abbot. Under his tutelage, Zen Centre grew into City Centre, Green Gulch Farm and Tassajara Zen Mountain Centre.